


Dawn of a New Century

by bakaprincess85



Series: Adaline Potter [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Asperger Syndrome, Awesome Severus Snape, Boarding School, Female Harry, Female Harry Potter, Gen, Good Severus Snape, Mentor Severus Snape, Mentor/Protégé, POV Female Character, Reincarnation, Self-Insert, Uncle Severus, Uncle-Niece Relationship, Undecided Relationship(s), Wizarding Traditions, Wizarding World, Yeah I'm biased... Deal. With. It.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-28 06:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7628623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakaprincess85/pseuds/bakaprincess85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You won't believe me when I tell you who I was reborn as, but I'll tell you anyway. There was no Harry James Potter. Instead, there was an Adaline Lily Potter. Yes, you read this right. I was reborn into a female Harry Potter. Go me! Not really, if you remember what all Harry had to go through before he got his happy ever after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One - Elegie

 

#  **Dawn of a New Century**

 or “Somehow I Was Reborn Into Harry Potter... Literally...”

* * *

* * *

 

 

# Chapter One – Elegie... or how it all started

I was lying in my bed, re-reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for the... to tell the truth, I have lost count of how many times I have read and re-read this series. From the time I was fifteen until now when I was thirty-two, this series has been my all.

No, I wasn't a fanatical fan like some of the others were that was obsessed with it to the point of being able to remember the Wikia and Pottermore information from the top of my head and able to argue about the lore like others did, but I did like to read the information on the series sometimes, I just didn't remember everything I ever read about it. I wasn't on top of things with Pottermore since the info about Ilvermorny came. Oh, I read what Rowling wrote about it and was sorted into Pukwudgie, but I didn't check on it daily or religiously to see if there were new things about my favourite characters. I was happy with the things I did know.

However, in the last few months, I do have to admit that I took to reading and re-reading the books and the fanfictions a bit more.

The reason? I was dying and wanted my last days on this Earth to be full of things I loved. So, I binge watched my favourite TV shows, movies, and anime, and listened to the music I always loved and read my favourite books and stories again for the last time.

I didn't have the energy to play video games anymore, but I did watch others play them. My favourite Let's Players had to be AwesomeMattG and StephenPlays which I followed kind of religiously, even if I have never heard or played the games before. They always made it fun, especially Stephen.

I listened to music to drown out the beeping of the machines that kept me as alive as possible with being in pain most of the time and not being able to breathe on my own. I was actually hoping it was over soon to spare my family and friends further pain of having to come visit me at my death bed every day. I was also hoping that it would be over soon so that _I_ wouldn't be in pain any longer.

I never felt comfortable with them coming to visit. My brown hair was long gone due to chemotherapy and wasn't going to grow back anytime soon. It made me feel a bit like... I was less than a woman because I didn't have my hair. I loved my hair. I would usually color it dark reddish-orange because I hated my boring natural color, but I kept it long and neat. When it started falling out, I was joking about it at first, but soon it became a taboo when visitors came because I felt so depressed about it. I was more depressed about the loss of my hair then the loss of my health sometimes. My health was never the best, but I did my best with what I had. My hair, though.

But I digress, you didn't come here to read me monologue about my hair, you probably came to read about what happened after I died.

Well, you'll probably find out real soon, because I could see black spots in my vision and the pain suddenly peaked in my lungs, making the machines beep even more. How I wished that they would turn them off already and let me die. But no, my mom didn't want to let me go yet and she kept fighting past the point of no return, just as she did with my grandma when she was sick.

I kept telling her to let me go, but she wouldn't. Couldn't. She kept telling me that it was supposed to be her and dad that died before me. No parent should ever watch their children being buried before them. I remembered this quote from the Lord of the Rings when Theodred was being buried by King Theoden. Or at least I think I quoted it correctly.

But getting the quote correct wasn't important at the moment and I had to reign my mind back to the fact that I was dying right at this moment. I felt relief. My pain was finally over and I could rest.

I could feel my chapped lips quirk into a small smile as I closed my eyes and took my last breath.  


*  


You might be wondering why I started my story by mentioning I was reading Harry Potter. It's because after I died I was reborn into it. At first, I was just floating in the warmth, not knowing what was going on. After a while, I could start to hear voices, though I couldn't understand them because they sounded like when you were floating under the water and people tried talking to you. Some time later I could move again and I stretched a bit every now and then to check if I was still alive.

And then I was born.

You won't believe me when I tell you who I was reborn as, but I'll tell you anyway.

There was no Harry James Potter. Instead, there was an Adaline Lily Potter.

Yes, you read this right. I was reborn into a female Harry Potter.

Go me!

Not really, if you remember what all Harry had to go through before he got his happy ever after.

*

Lily and James were wonderful parents, even if they were new to the parenting. Lily was the strict one and James was the lackadaisical one. I could tell by the time I was a month old that if James had lived past next Halloween that he would have tried to spoil me rotten. Luckily Lily was there to temper his attempts. Sirius and Remus were also quite regular visitors during the next few months. I didn't see Pettigrew much, and when I did I tried to cry as much as possible whenever I saw him, hoping to let the adults know that I didn't trust him, as I could quite talk yet and it would be strange if I told them I didn't like him, since I was still a newborn baby.

*

I was just put to bed with my faithful Pafoo and Moo'y, two stuffed toys that were gifts from Sirius and Remus when he came. My parents decided to trust Peter Pettigrew with the secret even if I never liked him and tried to make it known. You all know how that night went down, so I won't repeat it. Not because it might be boring to you, but because it was painful to me. I lost my second set of parents not long after I got them and I was going to have to live with my aunt Petunia. You can imagine I wasn't exactly jumping for joy.

I really loved James and Lily and was devastated when I lost them. I cried for days after that fateful night and only quietened down when Vernon lost his temper and threw me into the cupboard under the stairs. I guess I now knew why Harry landed there as well.

 


	2. Chapter Two - Try Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or the years before Hogwarts

# Chapter Two – Try Again

# ... or the years before Hogwarts

I did my best to survive the next ten years until I got to Hogwarts. Being a girl meant that Dudley generally left me alone because he was afraid he would get cooties from me and I sighed in relief when I realized that. I wasn't as athletic as Harry was at that age, because Dudley didn't chase after me with his gang, but I tried my best to become so even if I hated every minute of it. Going to Hogwarts would be too much of a shock to my system otherwise.

Of course, there were some bouts of accidental magic, but not many. Not because I wasn't powerful enough, but because I knew what was happening, I could control them somewhat. Not the real accidental magic, no, but I could control my magic somewhat. I could mould my magic into a small ball of light whenever Vernon and Petunia felt that I didn't need the light bulb in my cupboard, or healing the scrapes and bruises I was left with whenever I couldn't complete my chores fast enough or correctly.

This was glossed over in the books, but Harry was probably physically abused as well because I definitively was. I knew that going to the authorities would probably amount to nothing because Vernon and Petunia were respectable members of the community and I also doubted that Dumbledore would allow me to get away from the blood wards that were erected.

I found a safe harbor in the library, surrounded by books that I devoured because I was extremely bored in school. It was interesting to learn about things in English because I wasn't born English in my last life, but it was also boring because it was elementary stuff that I already knew even in English before.

I had gathered enough courage to talk to my teacher, asking her not tell my aunt and uncle about my great grades, because, and I quote myself here, I didn't want Dudley to feel bad because his were worse than mine, and in turn make my relatives worry about him needlessly or heap unfair expectations on him.

Either the teacher was stupid and bought it, or she knew there was another reason for it, after seeing how differently Petunia and Vernon acted around me at a school fair.

Either way, she kept mum about it and I kept acing my tests without my aunt and uncle's knowledge.

I was offered to skip classes more than once, but that would require letting my relatives know that I was smarter than Dudley and that just wouldn't do, so I went with the excuse that I didn't want to skip them because I would miss Dudley and my other (nonexistent) friends that I had in my class, and they left it at that.

My teachers did look at me weirdly because of it, seeing as they knew that Dudley and I ignored each other and the other kids ignored me, but they usually let it be. Might be because they actually liked me – I was a perfect student after all. Quiet and studious, knew the material when asked, and had good grades. I wasn't a teacher's pet by any means. I was way too shy to actually raise my hand in class, but I did answer the questions asked of me.

I think I was a dream come true to some of my teachers because they obviously favoured me over the others. They sometimes gave me chocolates or candy for an excellent score on the tests. It could also mean that they were aware that my home life wasn't exactly perfect but couldn't do anything about it.

Whatever. I was just happy to get to eat the sweets I otherwise wasn't even allowed to look at.

***

When my thoughts went to Hogwarts, I knew that the Hat would probably have a hard time putting me into a specific house, even though I've always identified with Slytherin the most. I was “officially” sorted into the snake house on Pottermore, and other unofficial quizzed as well. But I was also a closet Ravenclaw with my thirst for knowledge, a Hufflepuff because when I wanted to, I could be a real hard worker. And also a Gryffindor, just because I was a survivor not only in my life as Adaline Potter but also in my previous life.

I couldn't wait to see the Hat's expression when he figured out I knew a lot more than the Wizarding World expected of Adaline Potter, who was supposed to have no knowledge of magic before getting her Hogwarts letter. Harry Potter in the book was an average student of magic who excelled in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Quidditch and went for the easiest subject*s for his third year. I was in no way average, nor would I allow myself to be, what with a new chance to live and all. I also wouldn't touch a Divination book with a foot long pole if I could help it. No, I would probably take Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. Mainly because I didn't care for the Wizarding version of Muggle Studies, Divination you already know my hatred of, and I just didn't get numbers, which I heard Arithmancy was all about. Well, I'll probably check out a book about it when I got to Hogwarts anyway, to see if I _might_ change my mind about it.

I'm probably going to be like Hermione in wanting to know everything I could about magic.

If you couldn't tell already, I was extremely excited to go to Hogwarts and start learning about magic.

Which Harry Potter fan wouldn't? I know that in my previous life I was still waiting for my Hogwarts letter to come, even if I was thirty-two at the time of my death.

***

Thinking of Hogwarts usually meant I also started thinking about the characters in the books I've read over and over again. I wondered how they would react to an autistic Adaline Potter. They probably wouldn't expect that.

I bet you didn't expect that one either.

Yes, I am autistic. Or, to make it easier for you to understand, I have Asperger's Syndrome.

So if this story of mine sometimes makes no sense, this is probably the reason.

I wondered if I could get away with some things about my Hogwarts schooling, like as few oral examinations as possible, because I usually got so nervous I forgot everything I knew. My teachers at the elementary knew that and just wrote more questions on my tests and graded me a bit differently, instead of letting my grades suffer because I got so nervous I blacked out when I was supposed to have an oral examination.

Or to get private tutoring in things I didn't understand. I haven't read anything about those in the books, and so wondered if it was even a thing at Hogwarts.

But most of all, I was wondering if I should confide about my previous life in someone at Hogwarts, so that I wouldn't be all alone and having to pretend I was just a preteen girl all the time.

It did get tiresome sometimes, even if I didn't act like a kid most of the time.

Also, I was lonely. I wanted to talk to people, make friends, even with my social anxiety. I wanted to change the Wizarding World for the better with the influence I had over it.

And I knew I couldn't do it alone.

I needed someone to talk to.

And I'll probably sound extremely biased now, but I kind of wanted that someone to be Severus Snape.

He had always been one of my absolute favourite characters in the series and I was extremely excited to actually meet him now that he was a real person in a real world. I was also extremely frightened of him because I knew that he was an Occlumens and I was afraid that he would just take what information I had on the future from my head and go and report it to Dumbledore.

I didn't trust Dumbledore too much. I didn't like the fact that he didn't prepare Harry enough before he died and expected him to die like “a pig for slaughter” as Snape so tactfully put.

I really, really wanted to get along with him. I wanted to learn from him. I was really excited about studying Potions – even if Snape wasn't my favourite character, Potions would be my favourite subject at Hogwarts.

It might be a bit more difficult since I looked so much like Lily, but I promised myself that I would do my best to get along with the curmudgeon.

***

The day I got my Hogwarts letter I was all prepared to sneak it into my cupboard and read it immediately, but instead Vernon wanted me to clean his car before he went to work and I only had time to stuff the letter into my cupboard before going outside because I knew that if I dawdled, he would be angry, and an angry Vernon wasn't a good thing.

Aunt Petunia handed me a long list of chores to do after I was done with the car and I had to go do those immediately as well. And so I didn't get the opportunity to read the letter until a few weeks later.

I might admit, under duress, that I waited to read the letter just to see the expressions on their faces when the multiple letters started coming. I especially loved moustacheless Vernon.

I did manage to read the letter a few days later after I was sure that it was only a few days before we were supposed to flee to the hut on the sea. I definitively did not want to row us across in that weather, because I hated thunderstorms. Plus, rowing the two pigs that were Dudley and Vernon would be extremely hard, since they were so heavy.

And so, I read the letter. It was exactly the same as Harry's in the book, except instead of Dear Mr. Potter, it read Dear Miss Potter.

I found it extremely funny that indeed, inside the envelope there was only the acceptance letter and the list of school things I needed to buy. There were no other papers, explaining where to buy the things, or how to get to the Hogwarts Express. Definitively one of the things that needed to change. I hid the letter under my pillow again and went to the library. Aunt Petunia actually allowed me to go to the library once a week!

In the library, I begged the librarian for a piece of paper and a pen before going to sit in my usual corner.

I stared at the blank paper, before biting my lip and starting to write:

_Dear Whoever Gets This Letter or Dear Hogwarts,_

_Thank you very much for the acceptance letter and I apologize for the late reply. This has been my first and only opportunity to get away from my relatives and actually read what you have sent me. Although I do have to admit to a bit of amusement at watching my aunt and uncle's expressions when the letters came flying through the chimney, especially as it was a Sunday and my uncle was really happy about it since usually postmen don't deliver letters on Sundays._

_I'm not really sure what you meant by awaiting my owl, but I'm writing this letter in the hope that I'll find a way to get it to you._

_I admit to being really surprised when I read this letter. My first thought was that it was an elaborate prank thought up by my relatives, but then I remembered that my aunt and uncle hate anything to do with abnormality and magic and realized that it wasn't a prank from them. Then I tried to think of who would send me a prank like this and came up with no one, because I don't know that many people and most of them are children who, to be honest, couldn't think of something as elaborate as this._

_Then I started thinking, what if it's true and I am magic? It would explain all the odd things that tended to happen to me sometimes, like shrinking the jumper aunt Petunia wanted me to wear (it was hideous) and my bruises healing overnight. I've also never been sick and have never really needed a haircut. Is this all because of magic?_

_I read the enclosed list of supplies I'm supposed to buy, but I have no idea where to buy them (I imagine I won't find it in normal stores) and how to buy them since I have no money – and my relatives definitively won't be paying for it. Are there funds for students that can't afford school supplies or scholarships? If so, I would like to get more information on those._

_Second, the enclosed ticket for Hogwarts Express doesn't tell me where Platform Nine and Three Quarters is or how I am supposed to get there. Are there any magical transports that could help me get to King's Cross in London on the 1 st of September? I'm not really sure if my relatives will want to drive me there since they really don't like me too much._

_I would also ask that if you can, of course, you send someone to answer the questions I have – for there are a lot of them._

_Oh, and I'm assuming that my father's surname was Potter since I also have it and know that my aunt's maiden name was Evans, so, therefore, she is probably my mother's sister. And seeing as I'm a witch, I'm thinking (more like hoping) that one or both of my parents were magical as well. I've been told they died in a car accident, but seeing as anything coming out of my relatives' mouths should be taken with a grain of salt, I'm not too sure if it's true._

_But this wasn't what I had in mind when I started writing about my parents. Is my father also from a normal family or is his family magical? Is there anything I'm supposed to know about my family that I'm not at the liberty to know at the moment?_

_Also, are there any social norms I'm supposed to know about before making a mistake by alienating someone in the magical world by being impolite by accident? I don't want to make enemies from being rude, even if by me not knowing how to behave in the magical world. I would greatly appreciate if you could send me some reference material for studies about the magical world, like magical traditions, nobility and how to address them, magical subjects that every magical child should know before entering Hogwarts and other things that you think would be relevant for me to study._

_Thank you for the letter again and hope to hear from you soon,_

_Adaline Potter_

I read and reread the letter a few times before sighing and deciding that I would send it as it is. I'm sure that whoever read this letter would find it weird, definitively too long and full of words that normal eleven-year-olds wouldn't have in their vocabulary.

I would definitively make a few people curious.

I had to wonder who they would send if I managed to send the letter. Hagrid was my first thought, but then again – let's be honest here – Hagrid wasn't the brightest bulb in a shed, or however the phrasing went. I imagined it would be either professor McGonagall or professor Flitwick that would come. McGonagall for being my assumed Head of House (the whole Wizarding World was probably expecting me to get Sorted into Gryffindor) and Flitwick for being a Ravenclaw – and my letter did sound like a muggleborn Ravenclaw. I hoped it would be Flitwick since I really liked him in the books and he sounded like he wasn't as prejudiced as McGonagall probably was.

But before we get to that part of the story, I still needed to send my letter.

When I went outside the library, there was an owl waiting for me. Did it know I needed to send a letter, or was it sent when my letter was opened and there was a charm to notify the owls that someone with no access to owls wanted to reply to it? Oh well, at least I could send my letter now without worrying about it too much.

In preparation of sending a letter by owl, I had put the piece of paper inside an envelope the librarian had also given me and rolled it into a small roll which I then tied together with a piece of string I took from my aunt's garden supplies. She probably won't miss it.

The owl let me pet it a bit before showing me where to put the letter. I watched it soar away for a while, then returned to 4 Privet Drive to make dinner for three.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes - or if I'm using a wrong phrase. Please, feel free to correct me - I want to write as correctly as I can.


	3. Chapter Three - Nightmare's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or I meet Snape

**Chapter Three – Nightmare's End**   
**... or I meet Snape**

I definitely didn't expect Snape to come knocking on my relatives' door at eight in the morning a few days later. Is it sad that my first thought was that I was older than him by now? Indeed, at that moment in time, I was mentally over forty years old. 

We stood staring at each other for a few moments. I was quiet, deciding to let Snape gather his thoughts. I have seen how his eyes briefly widened before a mask of indifference spread over his face.  

It must have been a shock to see Lily's daughter that looked so much like her mother. He was probably expecting me to look like James. This left him in a flummox, it seems. I couldn't see anything that would make me think of Harry's Snape that would always belittle him and sneer at him. All I saw at that moment was a man who came prepared to hate me on principle and was left floundering because I wasn't what he expected.  

My allegations to my relatives' dislike of me in the letter I had sent probably also had something to do with it.  

“Good morning,” I finally said after a few more moments of silence. 

“Good morning,” he replied with just a barely detected hesitation. 

He was definitively not the Snape I expected.  

“Do you want to come in? My relatives have just finished with their breakfast,” I said with an inviting smile. 

A small frown on his face made me realize that I made a blunder already. I was supposed to ask him who he was before inviting him in, seeing as I wasn't supposed to know who he was. That or he read between my words and deduced that I was not included in that breakfast. 

He nodded mutely and entered the house. I made my way in front of him to lead him to the living room where I could hear my aunt and uncle talk like they did every morning before Vernon left for work. They usually made up a list of chores I was supposed to do that day. They tried to make it as long as possible every time. 

He stopped a few steps into the house though and left me walking alone for a moment before I realized he wasn't following me. I turned around and saw that he was staring at the cupboard under the stairs where I was still sleeping instead of getting Dudley's second room. 

I guess they finally checked how my letters were addressed. 

He noticed I was watching him and straightened before following me into the living room. 

“Ma'am, there's someone here to see you,” I said, as demurely as possible. My aunt didn't want me to call her aunt Petunia or anything that would make people think that we were kin. So we, and by that I mean I, compromised and called her Ma'am to her face. My uncle was called Sir. From the corner of my eye, I could see Snape frowning at my behaviour, before my aunt's shrieking turned my attention back to her. 

She had apparently lifted her head from where she was straightening Vernon's tie and saw who entered. She immediately recognized him and knew what time it was. Vernon got purple in the face and was probably about to demand who the stranger was and why I dared to let him inside the house, when Petunia stammered, “Y-you!” 

“Yes, me,” Snape sneered at her with a barely disguised disgust on his face. 

I was happy it wasn't in any way directed at me because I really didn't like that expression on his face. 

“Who in the bloody hell are you and what are you doing in my house!” my uncle finally got his bearings back and roared at my future professor. 

Snape only raised his eyebrow and looked down at me. Somehow I knew what he was thinking. _I see you did not tell them you read the letter._ I shook my head in answer and let him, and only him, show a small smirk of amusement. Because let's face it, I was enjoying watching their expressions. They went from anger at being disturbed during their morning rituals, to confusion from Dudley because as usual he had no idea what was going on, to fear from my aunt when she realized who had come to visit, rage on my uncle's face, and finally the expression I was waiting for: realization of why exactly that man, who was obviously a wizard, was here. Then their faces swivelled to me and I could see my uncle's silent promise of making sure I couldn't sleep that night because I was in too much pain. 

I could see a flicker of a similar smirk on Snape's face when he realized what I was smirking about, but then it grew into a thunderous expression when he also realized what that look of promise that Vernon was sending me meant. 

If possible, he grew even taller and I could feel just how powerful of a wizard he was as he let his power wash over the muggles. Even being muggles, they could feel something and grew pale and started trembling in fear. 

All this happened in a span of a moment and in complete silence.  

Realistically speaking, I was amazed at how in tune I was with Snape. Harry's Snape definitively wasn't like that. I already knew I landed in an alternate universe of Harry Potter, simply by being born a girl. Otherwise, everything went canonically so far, until I decided to play with the devil and managed to sneak the Hogwarts letter without my relatives' notice. 

“I have come to collect Miss Potter for the day, but I see it would be better if I took her away for the rest of the summer. You shall see her at the end of the term next year. We will notify you when and where you will pick her up from the train station. You _will_ give her a room to sleep in by that time.”  

The silent _I will check_ went without saying as he glared them into submission. The _and if I hear that she got mistreated when she returns_ was also sent, this time directly to my uncle. I could see him gulp and mumble something before I felt Snape's hand on my shoulder as he directed me to the entrance and then out of the house.


	4. Chapter Four - Onwards!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or I finally leave the Dursleys

**Chapter Four – Onwards!**   
**… or I finally leave the Dursleys**

We left the house in silence and strolled down the street in a similar way. I was actually enjoying myself for a change as I breathed in the fresh morning air and thinking of how differently Snape was acting just by me being a girl and looking like Lily. 

“I apologize for not introducing myself earlier,” Snape finally spoke. I already liked his voice. It was calm and steady, with just a bit of softness hidden behind it. 

“I am Severus Snape, one of the professors from Hogwarts. I was sent to answer any and all questions you might have and to help you buy your school things at Diagon Alley before returning you to your relatives. I find myself extremely reluctant in doing the latter." 

I could understand why he was reluctant, knowing the things I did about his childhood. It must have been an unpleasant shock to see how similarly we were treated. 

"Pleased to meet you, professor Snape. My name is Adaline Potter," I went and introduced myself in turn, even though he knew what my name was. I figured it was only polite to reciprocate the introduction. 

"I am aware," was all he said in return and I quirked an eyebrow at him. There was no trace of hatred in his voice.  

He was really different from what I was expecting. 

"What subject do you teach?" I asked him even though I knew the answer. It was expected of me to ask this question, though. 

"I'm teaching Potions," was the short answer. 

"Is that anything like cooking?" I asked and saw a sneer appear on his face. Ouch, he must hate Potions being compared to cooking. I did too as a matter of fact, but seeing as they didn’t expect me to know the difference, it was a logical question. 

"Potions is nothing like cooking," he replied with a voice a smidge louder than before. I could almost hear his silent _you dunderhead_. 

"Brewing potions is an art," he continued in a softer voice, "I will teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even how to put a stopper to death." 

He was clearly in his element and didn't disguise his love of his subject.  

"Potions is vastly different from cooking insofar as you have to measure ingredients extremely carefully because if there is even a gram more or less of an ingredient, the potion mostly ends up being useless," he continued and I listened in awe with – I admit it – my mouth gaping a bit. 

"There are also different methods of preparing ingredients which are also important in producing a working potion instead of blowing it up." 

He paused there and took a look at my enraptured face. His own face softened a bit as he found out that he wasn't boring me like he was probably expecting. Instead, I think he found a rare person that was as interested in what he was talking about as he was in discussing it. 

I gave him a big grin and skipped beside him from excitement.  

"Is the temperature also important? Like not letting it get to a boil, or letting it simmer?" I asked him – because I was genuinely interested and not just because. The books didn't go into many details when classes were mentioned after all, and getting to actually brew Potions made me actually giddy. 

And oh my God! Or should I start saying Merlin now?  

Merlin's saggy left testi- you know what, I don't care, I'll keep saying OMG, I don't feel like mentioning the unmentionables in this story.  

Anyway, the reason I just did this was because Snape lets his lips quirk up a bit. It wasn't a chuckle, nor was it a smile, but it was a small quirk which meant that he was pleased with the question. It meant the world to me. 

And no, I am not harbouring a crush on Severus Snape. And even if I did, there would be nothing I could do about it, seeing as he was the same age as my father and still loved my mum. Also, I was older than him. Though I probably shouldn't think about that right now, seeing as I was only eleven at this moment.  

"Yes, the temperature is also important," he replied to my question and then went on to rhapsodise about what different temperatures would mean to some ingredients and how they interacted with each other.  

And so we spent the short stroll towards Little Whinging's train station talking about potions. I learned a lot and Snape promised to find me a few books for extra reading material on Potions when I asked him. 


	5. Chapter Five - Somehwere in My Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> or Snape hears what I remember of that night

**Chapter Five – Somewhere in My Memory**  
**… or Snape hears what I remember of that night**

Closing the doors to the compartment, Snape brought out his wand and swished it at them. After seeing me watching him curiously, he explained, "I charmed the doors so that muggles won't come inside." 

I made sure to make my expression look confused at that word. He understood. 

"Muggle is the Wizarding World's word for a person who has no magic," he said as he sat down.  

"Muggle," I said as if trying to sound the new word on my tongue. Then I looked at him thoughtfully. 

"Sounds like an insult," I said bluntly. "Like I was about to mug someone. Wouldn't it be better to call them non-magicals?" 

Then I had to ask myself if I said too much as I could see a cloud come over his face. This was one of my bad habits, talking before thinking it through. Or being tactless. A small Gryffindor trait.  

"Perhaps," was all he said on the matter. Instead, he gave me a sharp look and pulled out my letter to Hogwarts. 

"You said you had some questions about our world," he said in lieu of continuing with the theme I had breached. 

"Yes I did," I replied with a nod. "You can imagine my surprise when I finally got to read the letter. I never even heard of Hogwarts before and the letter was unfortunately either meant for children raised as magicals or the sender expected us that weren't born in the magical world to know about it." 

There was a pause in which Snape seemed to think about what I said. Apparently, the letters weren't the same for muggle-borns if I read his expression correctly. I think that either he or Lily got a completely different letter. 

"I was also very lucky that an owl was waiting for me when I got out of the library, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to send a reply," I added. "And then where would we be?" 

It was probable that Dumbledore would have sent Hagrid to pick me up from the hut on the sea. Was I ever so glad to be able to skip that night. It also meant that it wasn't my birthday yet – that particular day would come in a few days, though. 

"Professor McGonagall sends her apologies about that," Snape finally said, "she – as did we all, I suppose – expected that your relatives would have told you about our world." 

"Well, you thought wrong," I said before cringing at my tactlessness again.  

"I apologize," I said quickly before he could frown at me, "that was unkind of me. It wasn't your fault." 

Instead of replying, Snape went over the letter again. 

"Let's me start explaining from the top then," he said. 

"Owl post is the main mode of sending messages and letters to people in the Wizarding World. There are other modes as well, but this one is the easiest and usually fastest. Owls that are trained for delivering mail are usually faster than normal owls and far more intelligent." 

I could agree with that – Hedwig was amazing! I couldn't wait to see if I could get her as well. I didn't want someone else getting that amazing owl. 

"What are the other modes?" I asked curiously. It was good to know in case I didn't have access to an owl – or if certain house-elf whose name started with a D decided to withhold my mail next year. 

"There's Floo Powder for larger parcels than the owls can carry," Snape started explained. Before I even opened my mouth to ask him what Floo Powder was, he was already continuing. 

"Floo Powder is a powder that allows you to travel between fireplaces and is one of the transport modes of our world. It can also be used for sending large items over. The other mode is a bit more difficult as it is either impossible to learn or it takes a long time for someone to learn. It's called a Patronus Message." 

I was surprised at the last one. I thought that the Patronus messaging was an Order of the Phoenix secret. However, there was something missing. 

"That's all fine and dandy," I said after thinking about if for a bit, "but what about people who live in the non-magical world like me and probably don't have access to a fireplace or Floo Powder. Or don't have owls? Or can't do the Patronus Message? What if there's an emergency situation and they can't get help?" 

I could see I put him in a tough position again. Grr... wizards really don't think of making muggle-born people feel more comfortable in the Wizarding World, do they? I might have to change that. 

"That's really not nice," I said when it became apparent that Snape had no answer to that. 

"How are Hogwarts letters to muggle raised children sent then?" I asked.  

"Usually, a professor is sent to meet with them and their parents to explain about our world and to answer their questions," Snape replied. 

"Like you did with me," I nodded. 

"Yes." 

To change the subject, Snape went over the letter again. 

"You can buy all your school supplies in Diagon Alley, which is where we are going right now. Before that, though, we are going to go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to withdraw some money from your vault." 

"So I do have money?" I asked him before he could continue, and made sure to show relief on my face. Well, it wasn't exactly an act – I was happy to know that I wasn't left penniless in this universe. 

"Yes, your parents didn't leave you without money. Your father was from an old family and old families in our world are usually quite wealthy." 

"Really? Is there anyway to check exactly how much money I have so that I know how to make it last until I finish my schooling and get a job?" 

Unlike Harry, I wasn't going to be an Auror. I still wasn't sure what I wanted to be, seeing as I didn't know much about magical careers, but I was always attracted to the Curse Breaker career. We'll see. 

"You can ask to talk to the manager of your vaults, yes," was all Snape said. 

"Vaults?" I immediately jumped on the word. In the books, Harry only had the one vault. Or was this like in the fanfictions, I have read where that vault was only a trust vault and Harry would have to wait until he was seventeen to be able to enter the main vault? 

"Yes, usually families such as yours create a trust vault when a child is born and annually fill it with the amount the child used during the year." 

"Wow, that's neat," I had to say. "But will we have the time to talk to the manager? I'm sure that by now you've already realized that I'm full of questions, and I'm sure the visit would go on too long if you let me talk to them." 

I would swear on whatever deity sent me here that I could see a small, amused smile lit Snape's face, but it was gone in a second and I couldn't be sure of it. 

"Indeed, I have realized it by now, yes," he replied and I had to grin a bit sheepishly. 

"However, it is to be expected that you have questions. It is also because of this that I was sent to meet with you today," he replied. 

So I was right and they were probably going to send Hagrid until it became apparent that I had too many questions and that someone else would have to go and answer them. Not because Hagrid didn't know the answers, but yeah – it was probably because he didn't know the answers to quite a few of them, like my family's vaults.  

I mean no insult to Hagrid with this, I've always liked the half-giant a lot. 

"To answer your question, no I do not believe we will have time to talk to the manager at length, however, we can always return to Gringotts at another time," he said. 

I smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you very much, sir," I said, only then realizing I haven't been calling him Sir at all. _Very polite, Adaline, very polite,_ I scolded myself mentally. 

"At that time you can ask your manager to tell you more about the Potter family since I imagine he's the only one with the most knowledge of your family," Snape continued as he crossed his legs and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers. It made him look all noble and made me sit up straighter with both my legs neatly put to the side and my hands resting on my lap like I've seen in the Princess Diaries so long ago on how a lady was supposed to sit. 

This arrangement of mine resulted in a raised eyebrow, but no other acknowledgment. 

"This brings me to the topic of your parents' deaths," Snape continued and for the first time since I've met him, there was an obvious pain in his eyes.  

"You've written that your relatives told you that your parents died in a car accident. That is a lie," he said, with a bit of sharpness to his words at the end. 

"I imagined that they did, yes," I replied with a small grimace. It was time to bring a bit of light on the fact that she remembered the night her parents died. "Because my memories tell me a whole different story," I continued with a quick look at Snape's face to see how he would react. 

And he did. React, I mean. His eyes widened a bit, but then his – by now – famous mask of indifference came up. 

"You remember the night your parents died?" He asked in surprise. 

I nodded quietly and wondered if I should tell him that I could mostly remember everything due to my excellent memory. My memory wasn't exactly photographic or eidetic or whatever else they called the total recall – but it was very good, especially in remembering past events and trivia (usually useless) that I've read over the years. I could remember things I've dreamt about when I was a baby in my past life, but would probably forget what I said five minutes ago sometimes, so my memory was a bit iffy like that.  

Nonetheless, I was very proud of my memory, so let's leave it at that. 

"I remember most of my childhood before I was left with the Dursleys," I admitted. I said childhood before the Dursleys, because let's face it – neither Harry nor I had childhoods with the Dursleys. 

This little fact didn't seem to escape Snape's notice, but he let it go for now. I imagined that if he would take me to Hogwarts this evening, he would take me straight to Madam Pomfrey for a full medical examination.  

"Mum was just putting me to sleep when the doors downstairs exploded inwards and my dad yelled at my mum to take me and get away because _he_ was there. There was a cold laugh and my dad's yells suddenly stopped," I said, looking through the windows as I tried to disassociate myself from the memory. It was still painful thinking of James and Lily, even if they weren't my parents for long. 

"Mum then started crying and put me down into my crib, before kissing me and turning her back to me as the doors to my room blew apart and _he_ entered. My mum started pleading with _him_ to let me live and kill her instead, but _he_ kept telling her to step aside. She didn't though and _he_ finally shouted something at her. There was a lot of green light and my mum dropped to the floor as if her strings were cut..."  

I shut up there and brought my hands to hide my crying face. I didn't want Snape to see me like that. 

There was silence in our compartment, only broken by my soft cries.  

After a few moments, I took a deep breath and tried to calm down to continue telling him the memory of that night. 

"Then _he_ turned to me and said the same words and the same green light came at me. I remember my head was splitting open in pain and I could hear someone yell in pain as well, but I can't tell if it was me or if it was _him_. All I know is that when the pain stopped, I was alone in the room for a while." 

I wondered if I should tell him that I remembered him coming into the house and crying over my mother and then bringing me outside of the burning house. Should I? I wasn't sure if I should, but then again – I wanted him to know that I remembered him. 

In the end, I softly said, "Thank you for bringing me out of the house. If you hadn't, I would probably have died that night as well." 

This was another divergence from the canon story in the books and the movies. Snape in the movies came and cried over Lily's body but left Harry crying in the crib. He wasn't mentioned in the books at all until Harry arrived at Hogwarts and it was Hagrid who took Harry from the house on that night. 

This brought on the subject of Sirius. 

"I don't understand one thing though," I said, taking a chance to look at Snape. I immediately looked away from the painful expression on his face at my recounting of Lily's death. 

"What thing?" He asked me, also looking away from my face. 

"Why didn't Papa Padfoot take me in?" I asked him. 

And yes, that is exactly what I called Sirius when I was a baby. James would always get angry when I said Papa, but would melt when I gave him a smile and called him daddy, so he obviously wasn't too mad about it. As long as he, James, was daddy, Sirius could be called whatever I desired. 

If he had lived, I would have probably been a huge daddy's girl. 

I could see Snape didn't understand who I was talking about, so I elaborated. "My godfather, Sirius Black? Or Uncle Moony for that matter?" 

I think he knew who I meant by that moniker, since he didn't ask me who I meant by it. His black eyes were frowning at me – but not from hearing the name of the person who was bullying him when he was younger, and who he thought betrayed Lily to Voldemort, but thoughtfully, as if he only now realized the importance of my memory. I could see indecision in his eyes. Should he tell me that my godfather was incarcerated in Azkaban or not? 

In the end, he decided to be truthful with me and told me, "Black couldn’t take you because he was arrested on suspicion of betraying you and your parents to the man who killed them, and for the murder of twelve muggles the next day." 

He paused there as if trying to find words. 

"There exists a spell. A spell that can make you keep a Secret. The charm is called the Fidelius Charm and the person who has it cast on them is called the Secret Keeper. Black was the Secret Keeper of your location and told it to the Dark Lord. He betrayed you all and that is why he is currently kept in the highest security prison in Azkaban, the wizarding prison." 

I was honestly confused by now. I knew that Sirius received no trial, but the fact that he was my godfather by the Olde Rites should mean something, shouldn't it? Or did Harry's Sirius never insist on that ritual? I never knew that Sirius would go to this length when James and Lily asked him to be my godfather, but he did. He asked them to do the Olde Rite to make him so – it would make him incapable of ever betraying me. 

"I'm confused," I admitted, chewing slightly on my lower lip. 

"About what?" Snape asked me. 

"How could people think that Papa Padfoot betrayed us if he is my godfather?" 

A moment of silence as Snape looked at me as if he couldn't understand what I was confused about. But then, his eyes widened again and he sat up straight as if realizing something. 

"By him being your godfather, you mean?" He asked, as if already knowing the answer. "Did your parents name him your godfather by the Olde Rites?" 

"If you mean they took me to a huge room that they said was a ritual room, and had some strange people and Papa Padfoot recite something about vowing to protect me, then yes," I replied, wondering all the time if this would make me blow my cover by being ignorant of being a witch. I made sure not to say that they took me to Gringotts or mention the word goblins.  

I think I did a good job, because apparently Snape bought it, as he paled even further than his already pale skin and seemed to almost crumple in his seat. 

This made me suspicious. Why would he react like this if he hated Sirius? Was this world different even in this instance? I have seen no hatred whenever James, Sirius or Remus were mentioned, only pain at Lily's name or memory. Did the Snape of this world not hate the Marauders as much as he did in Harry's? 

Just how different was this universe then the one I knew about? 

I wasn't to get any answers at the moment, because the train stopped and we had to exit it.


	6. Chapter Six - Circus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> or I finally get to see Diagon Alley

**Chapter Six - Circus**  
**or I finally get to see Diagon Alley**

I have only been in London once before and that was in my previous life, so I eagerly looked around myself when we parted the train station. We walked in silence once more, mainly because we couldn't talk more about the topics we have opened on the train while mingling with muggles. I'm sure we'll reopen the conversation about it when we'll break for lunch.

I glanced up at Snape who was walking beside me. I had to lean my head back a lot to be able to watch him because he was so tall. He was tol and I was smol. God damn it, Tumblr memes! Why did I have to be reminded of them right at this moment! I blushed and turned my head away from Snape, feeling embarrassed.

For those not in the know, tol and smol are words for otp pairings on Tumblr that I've read about years ago.

"We're here," Snape said suddenly and I stopped, only to see him stand a few paces behind me in front of a dingy old pub called the Leaky Cauldron. I took a deep breath to calm myself before I squealed in excitement, and walked back to where he was standing.

I watched him open the doors and when he motioned for me to go first, I obeyed. I stopped when I entered and when Snape came in and closed the doors, I went and hid behind him, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. There were so many people and the place was so small. I was usually fine with large crowds because the space was large enough so I didn't have to worry that I would walk into someone, but the Leaky Cauldron was small and as I said, there were a lot of people inside.

I grabbed Snape's hand in mine, blushing a bit at the knowledge that my hand was shaky and sweaty from nerves. I didn't dare look up to see his expression.

Thankfully, he didn't say anything and only guided me through the crowd and towards the back of the pub. I let out a shaky breath when the door behind us closed and we were standing alone in the back alley, while Snape quietly went ahead and opened the doorway to Diagon Alley. He looked through to the street and then back at me with a frown on his face.

I looked back at him, wondering what it was that he was thinking when he stretched out his hand towards me. I blinked at it, and then looked at him again, checking to see if he meant it, and then when I didn't see any rejection on his face, carefully wrapped my own small hand around his again and let him lead me into Diagon Alley.

I could see why he let me hold his hand again the moment we stepped through. The street was full of people! There were, even more, people than there were in the pub! It must have been the shopping spree for school supplies. I faltered in my steps a bit and felt Snape hold my hand even tighter in response.

"We'll go straight to Gringotts to withdraw some money and then we can go pick up your school uniform," he informed me while we were walking. I nodded and let my eyes dart around us to take as much of Diagon Alley in as possible. There was Eeylop's Owl Emporium! And I could see the Quidditch store where the Nimbus 2000 was proudly presented in the window. I could see Ollivander's wand shop at the corner and of course, the white, asymmetrical building that was Gringotts Wizarding Bank. There was a lot more shops in Diagon Alley than I thought there would be. I knew about the main ones, of course, and about some of the others that would either open in the future or were opened in the past and were closed now. There were a lot of second-hand shops, and shops that sold produce like vegetables and fruits, and next to Fortescue's there was a bakery from which I could smell the scent of fresh bread making my mouth water.

"It's amazing," I whispered in awe as I just looked at the lively street. I could see the sign that let to Knockturn Alley and there was a sign that led to Vertical Alley. I've never heard of a street like that in canon, but I've read about it in fanfictions and I wondered what Vertical Alley sold.

"How many alleys are there?" I asked when we reached another sign.

"There's five," Snape answered. "Diagon Alley, which is the main alley and sells everything a witch or wizard might need in daily life, Vertical Alley which is home to Wizarding businesses and practices, Horizont Alley hosts elite shops and restaurants, Whimsical Alley is where you can usually find fairs and other things for amusement. And then there is Knockturn Alley which you are not allowed to enter."

That last part was said very sternly and he looked down at me while talking as if he was trying to make sure I understood what he was saying and when I gave him a nod, he straightened his head up again and that was it.


	7. Chapter Seven - Under the Hill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> or we visit Gringotts

**Chapter Seven – Under the Hill**  
**or we visit Gringotts**

By this time we've reached the bank and I looked up to read the poem the goblins wrote above the doors. It was as cool as ever. 

"That is so cool!" I said to Snape as we walked past the doors and into the bank. I could see he was restraining himself from rolling his eyes and I grinned.  

When we walked past the goblins that were probably guarding the doors, I made sure to smile at them both and nod my head respectfully, even if I probably shouldn't seeing as I wasn't supposed to know what they were. 

But I was not going to be like most of the Wizarding World that ignored non-humans and ostracized them. No, I was probably going to get myself killed by advocating for their rights... and if I was right and the Potter family was as old as I thought it was (seeing as Harry was descended from the Peverells) then I figured that I might have a seat (or more) on the Wizengamot. Or hoped I did. Oh how many fanfictions I've read on this topic. 

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm sure I'll be able to ask the goblin that was managing my account about it tomorrow about all of it. Might even ask if it was possible to see who my ancestors were. I was curious about my mother's side of the family (if you don't count Petunia). There were also fanfictions that theorized that muggle-born wizards and witches were descendants of squibs that were cast out into the muggle world by the pure-blooded bigots and I wanted to see if there was any truth to those theories. I was really excited for tomorrow's visit to the bank. 

I noticed that Snape and both goblins gave me a weird look and I gave Snape a weird look back. I pretended I didn't know why he was looking at me like that. 

In the end, he just sighed and led me further into the bank and towards the first free goblin he saw. 

"We would like to make a withdrawal from the vault of one Adaline Potter," he said and produced a golden key from one of his pockets. The goblin in front of us took the key and checked it, then called for – you will never guess who – Griphook. 

He led us to the door that led to the vaults and we sat down in the cart, Snape beside me. I then noticed that we were still holding hands. 

That was really nice of him. I'm sure he must have been feeling uncomfortable about this touchy-feely stuff, but he still did it to make me feel better. I promised myself that I would do something for him later to show him how much I appreciated it. 

The cart-ride started and I was indeed reminded of a roller-coaster, only underground. The speed wasn't as fast as the roller-coasters I was on, so I wasn't as frightened as I could have been. Not wearing glasses and being afraid they would be yanked off my face also helped. 

I didn't try to memorize the way to my vault, seeing as it was no use trying to do so, and just let the air muss my hair. I really needed to get me a hair-band. 

The cart-ride stopped and Griphook stepped off first, followed by Snape and I. He unlocked the door to my vault and stepped aside to let us do what we wanted. 

I was left staring at the mountain of money in the vault. 

"This is supposed to be only my trust vault?" I murmured to myself. Snape ignored me as he went forward and started filling a pouch with the glittering coins. 

"The golden ones are Galleons," he started explaining as he showed me each coin in turn. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon, and twenty-nine bronze Knuts to a Sickle." 

I already knew that, but made sure to look at the coins in his hands carefully and listen to his explanation. 

"What about muggle money?" I asked. "What's the conversion rate?" 

I needed to know how much money I could convert to muggle money so I could buy myself some muggle stuff. 

Snape gave me a searching look and I silently pointed to my old and threadbare dress and stockings, and he nodded sharply, then went and took some more coins out of the vault. 

"Five Pounds to a Galleon," Griphook answered that question. 

"Thank you, sir," I replied to him with a grateful smile and a nod of my head. I received another weird look in return but didn't bother trying to decipher that one either. 

That done, we sat back inside the cart and let Griphook bring us back to the surface. I thanked him again after he opened the doors to the main bank and let us through first, and followed Snape outside. I took a deep breath of fresh air and looked up at the professor, waiting to see where he took us next.


	8. Chapter Eight - Vanity Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or I get new clothes

**Chapter Eight – Vanity Fair**   
**or I get new clothes!**

Before we moved anywhere, Snape took a look around the alley and offered me his hand again. I took it with a grateful smile and off we went towards Madam Malkin's. I was pretty excited about it actually. Not because of the infamous shopping sprees women went on, but because I would finally get to wear new clothes for the first time in nine or so years since I was reborn into this world. I might even ask Snape if we could buy extra clothes for everyday use and not just the uniform sets. 

When the bell above us rang as we stepped inside the shop, it was Madam Malkin herself who greeted us with a cheerful smile. 

"Hogwarts, dear?" She asked me and I nodded shyly.  

"Right, up you go," she continued and showed me to a small stool in the fitting room. I obeyed her and stepped up. We were lucky insofar as there was no one else in the shop at the moment. 

"Fit her for everything else as well," Snape suddenly said, leaning against the wall opposite of the fitting room. "She is in need of a full wardrobe, including formal robes with a place to put her family crest. Make sure to add charms for growth so that the clothes will grow with her." 

Madam Malkin nodded, happy to get such a big order and flitted around me while measuring me. 

"What about colours? Do you have specific colours in mind?" She asked, all business like. 

There was silence in the room until I realized she was asking me and I stammered for a bit. 

"Er, um. Greens and greys?" I asked more than said. I knew that with my complexion, hair and eye colour that there weren't that many colours that would look good on me. "Perhaps a few dark blues?" 

"Ah, a future Slytherin then?" Madam Malkin asked jokingly. I was happy to hear she didn't sound prejudiced against that house. 

I sent a quick, questioning look towards Snape and he rose to the occasion. 

"At Hogwarts you are sorted into one of four Houses. There's Gryffindor which colours are red and gold, Ravenclaw has blue and bronze, Hufflepuff has yellow and black and then there's Slytherin which has green and silver. I'll tell you more about them later." 

I nodded and let Madam Malkin fill the silence with her chatter, nodding here and there and agreeing with her just to let her know that I was indeed listening to what she was saying. 

Half an hour later, I was measured, had my three sets of uniform neatly packaged, while the other things would be sent to me by owl post when they were done, and was wearing a neat emerald green summer dress. And by that, I mean that me and Madam Malkin had quickly designed it in the half hour we were there and I loved it. It had bell-like sleeves with silver ribbons sewn into them so that I could regulate the wideness of the sleeves, and a wide silver ribbon for the belt on the dress. The dress itself went down to my knees. I loved it. It was girlish, but not too girlish because I said no to the frills Madam Malkin wanted to sew on it. And Snape obviously approved as well, because he was quiet when I shyly asked Madam Malkin to make me a dress that I could wear immediately.  

I love magic. It made the sewing so much faster. Madam Malkin just flicked her wand and the dress practically sewed itself.  

Plus, I doubt Snape had anything against me wearing Slytherin colours. 

The next shop we went into was the Apothecary where Snape took the reigns and got me a nice set of potion ingredients. We spent a bit of time there, because I was asking him about the other ingredients and what they were used for. He (happily?) talked about Potions for fifteen minutes while the guy that worked in the shop looked at us with a bored expression. He finally cleared his throat just when Snape was explaining about the difference between fresh and dried ingredients. That got the professor to stop talking, glare at the poor guy, pay for the ingredients and leave the shop with a huff. 

Well, he didn't huff out loud, but I imagined he did so in his mind. 

Following that we went to buy the pewter cauldron, where he went into details about why pewter cauldrons were best for beginners, and why the gold cauldrons could only be bought by people that had been verified by the Potioneering Community, which was apparently where you went if you wanted to study Potions after finishing Hogwarts. You were apprenticed to a Potions Master that taught you everything you needed to know for two years, before you could sit for the Mastery for the first time. Most people failed the first test because it was so tough and I was proud of my professor when he admitted that he was one of the rare ones who passed it the first time. He was also the youngest ever Potions Master in Great Britain. 

I must have looked at him in such awe that he grew uncomfortable and quickly added that there were people far younger than he was in other countries around the world. That didn't matter to me, I was still completely amazed at how smart he was. 

By that time, it was already almost noon and Snape led me back towards Leaky Cauldron. I was weary about it, because I knew there were a lot of people and while it wasn't my birthday, I was still cautious about Quirrellmort being there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys, I'm somewhere that has no electricity, except solar powered and I can't charge my laptop nonstop. For the past two days there was no sun, so we had to save the energy left. Anyway, hope you enjoy the shortish chapter - I have a few chapters written already, so there's no fear that I'm not updating because I haven't written the next chapter yet. I just can't turn my laptop on for now. Anyway, I'll try to update tomorrow as well, but I'll probably move to weekly updates after I get home, because it's much harder to write at home than here. Here, words just somehow fly from my fingers, and I just can't get that motivated at home... Sorry about that. Also, if you find any mistakes in any of the chapters I've written and will write, please feel free to correct me and I'll edit them. Also, if anyone wants to beta this, I'd be very happy. Have a nice day!


	9. Chapter Nine - Cloud Number 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or I'm so happy I could cry

**Chapter Nine – Cloud Number 9**   
**or I'm so happy I could cry**

However, Snape steered me to the left and into Horizont Alley, where we sat down outside one of the restaurants. It was a nice place actually. There wasn't a lot of guests there, perhaps one or two families that were enjoying their desserts. The outside area was nicely shaded and the atmosphere was calm and relaxing. 

"This is nice," I said to Snape as I sat in my seat and looked around the alley curiously. While Diagon Alley was colourful and lively, Horizont Alley was calm and relaxing in itself. The buildings were all wonderfully designed and most of them were painted in pastel colours. I especially liked the pastel blue colour that decorated the French Cuisine restaurant opposite us. 

Yeah, that's the one thing that was wrong with this place. All the names were boring and to the point. Like French Cuisine for example. But there was also Spanish Siesta and Ristorante Italiano. The Wizarding World really needed to work on their imaginations while naming stuff. 

Well, at least there was Fred and George Weasley, they did a good job naming their shop and their products.  

Snape was calmly perusing the menu while I took the time to look around the alley and didn't reply to my comment.  

"Have you ever taken an apprentice, sir?" I asked him, curious. I've wanted to ask him in the cauldron shop, but he looked like he didn't want to discuss it there anymore. 

"No, I have not," he replied, looking over the edge of the menu at me with a calculating look. I felt like he was looking at me as if I was one of his potions ingredients. 

"Pick what you want to eat," he added with a pointed look towards my menu which I haven't touched yet. I shut up and did as he said, hiding my face behind the white menu. 

In the end, I went for Shepherd's pie and a glass of lemonade while Snape treated himself to a simple meal of fish and chips and a glass of what looked liked iced tea. We ate in a comfortable silence and then I was treated to a piece of lemon meringue pie which I've made in my previous life but wasn't able to eat in this one. It was delicious.  

Food or drinks made from lemons were some of my favourite ones and I told Snape so. He seemed to like lemons too since he squeezed two slices of a lemon into his tea and ordered a piece of the pie for himself as well. 

When we were done with the pie, Snape leaned back in his chair and looked at me contemplatively.  

"In your letter, you also mentioned that you were interested to know our world's social norms. I assume that by that you meant etiquette and manners?" 

I knew I used that word wrongly. 

I nodded and took a breath to gather my courage before telling him, "At the beginning of my first year at the elementary school, I displayed signs of autism and so the school nurse and the school psychiatrist tested me to see which spectrum I fit into. They discovered that I had a mild version of it that's called Asperger's Syndrome." 

I could see Snape's expression go from calm to an inscrutable one. 

"It means that I have problems with social things like knowing when not to say something or what the hidden meanings in words are. I have a hard time with phrases and proverbs as well. Numbers are like squiggles to me and the teachers in my school gave me longer written tests instead of me having to do oral ones, because when I was put on the spot like that, I usually got so nervous that I blacked out completely." 

I watched him for a while as he thought through the probable information overload. 

"So, I'm worried that by saying something that I might find okay to say, I'm going to offend someone. That's why I want to know how to express myself correctly in social situations. I really don't want to be rude to someone by accident and make myself an enemy for life because of it. Especially if there's magic involved. I also suck at poetry," I added to try to make the serious conversation a bit more fun. 

It didn't work. 

Snape still had no expression on his face, or if he did – I had no idea what it was. 

"It doesn't mean I'm stupid," I said while glaring at him. Most of the people I knew in my previous life thought that because I was mildly autistic it meant I was stupid and couldn't understand them. One went so far as to speak loudly and slowly at me as if I couldn't understand him otherwise when in fact I had been speaking normally to him not five minutes ago. Stupid people and their stupid views.  

"I did not think you were," Snape said, finally calming himself down. "I was merely thinking of how to approach this situation that we have found ourselves in." 

He leaned a bit forward so that he could look me in the eye. I tried to keep looking at him but a mere few seconds later I turned my eyes away.  

Yeah. I couldn’t look people in the eyes for long. 

"What you've just told me about yourself changes a few things. One, the Wizarding World has no idea what autism is, much less what Asperger's Syndrome is. I only know about it because I am interested in how a human mind works and as the Wizarding World doesn't have much material on it, I've gone and researched it in the muggle world. Two, we're going to have to tell this to the Headmaster and then to the other professors so that they'll know how to correctly deal with the situation. I don’t want you to fall to the sidelines and be treated incorrectly because the people responsible to do their best to help you with your studies weren't aware of the situation." 

He went silent for a few moments as he took a sip of his iced tea and then he continued, "I admit that I went and talked to the staff of your elementary school to confirm what my assumptions were after reading your letter. I am glad that you felt like you could tell me about it yourself." 

Aww, now he went and made me feel all warm inside. He could read between the lines of my letter and went and made sure that what he thought about me was correct. That also meant that he clearly knew I wasn't stupid because I'm sure some of the teachers sang me praises for being so smart.  

"Thank you," I whispered as I stared at my hands, which were on my lap, as I tried to tell my eyes, not to water. In my previous life I wasn't diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome until I was thirty years old and by then it was too late, since I was already also diagnosed with cancer. I used to rant at my mum for our country being so backwards that we couldn't have diagnosed me with it earlier; that way I might have been able to get help in my younger years and been able to actually finish high school. Instead, I was a high school drop out because we didn't know what was wrong with me and instead I was diagnosed with various other mental disorders like depression, bi-polar disorder, PTSD, one doctor even went to so far as to try to diagnose me with schizophrenia. Yeah, we said goodbye to that one in under a minute. 

In this country, Asperger's Syndrome was well-known and was able to be detected early on. I was thankful for that. The school psychologist helped my find the best way to be able to study and retain the information that I couldn't before. She and my other teachers made me see that there was nothing wrong with me like I've felt for my entire previous life. I felt special and smart like I could do anything I put my mind to. 

I was also really touched that Snape went and actually talked to my teachers to gather information on me. That he was prepared to educate the other professors at Hogwarts who might or might not know about my disorder on how to handle me correctly and at the same time not making me feel stupid and isolated from the others. 

If we weren't sitting down, I would probably have hugged the bejeezus out of Snape. He was definitively my favourite person on this planet right now. 

He was also kind enough to give me enough time to put myself together to give him a smile instead of a crying face. 

He paid for our meal after that and we left Horizont Alley to continue our shopping spree. 


	10. Chapter Ten - A Troubled Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or I get a wand

**Chapter Ten – A Troubled Man**  
**or I try to get a wand**

Snape once again took my hand as we entered Diagon Alley and led me to Ollivander's shop. I was really excited about that but acted confused since he hadn't explained anything about wands yet. Let me pretend I didn't know what he was doing on the train.

"What's that stick in the window?" I asked him as he was about to open the doors. He looked at the wand and then at me, realizing he had forgotten to explain this to me. He opened the doors while saying,

"That is a wand. It's the main magical focus that helps you direct your magic from inside yourself. By moving your wand in a specific way and incanting a specific set of words, you can put a spell on something, like I did with the doors to our train compartment."

"Nicely said. And it is the wand itself that chooses a witch or a wizard," an old voice added as we stepped deeper into the shop. "I expected you to stop by soon, Miss Potter. There hasn't been a witch or a wizard that left here unsatisfied with their wand."

I looked over to where I heard Ollivander and finally saw the old man for myself. He was as odd looking as the books described him with pale blue eyes and wispy gray hair that was thinning on his forehead indicating that he would probably go bald in the next decade or so.

"Hello," I said with a shy smile, trying my best not to hide behind Snape from feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. In the books, it always seemed as if he could read your mind or your aura or something like that and even if I wasn't sure, I didn't want him to read my mind and find out what really happened.

I felt a soft touch on my shoulder as I watched Ollivander hum to himself as he gathered various boxes with wands while letting the measuring tape do its job. I looked up and saw Snape giving me a comforting look.

Yeah. I was definitively in an alternate universe because the Snape from the books never looked comforting. And the only time he looked like Christmas had come early was when he thought he could get Harry in trouble.

I gave him a grateful smile and continued watching the measuring tape as it flitted between my nostrils.

"That is enough," Ollivander said as he came back from wherever he was with an armful of wand boxes and settled them on the desk in front of him. The measuring tape fell on the floor and remained still.

It was time to find my wand, I guess. I wondered if I would get the same wand as Harry did.

"Right," Mr. Ollivander said as he opened the first wand box. "Twelve inches, willow and containing the hair of a unicorn."

I picked it up by its handle and tried to swish it through the air, but Ollivander grabbed it from me before I could even get it in the air, with an exclamation of, "Not that one."

And so it went. I must have gone through about a half of his shop when he finally brought out the holly and phoenix tail wand for me to try. He gave me a calculating look but didn't say anything else.

I warily picked up the wand and was kind of relieved when nothing came out of it.

"Curious," I heard Ollivander mutter as he shuffled towards the back of the shop, once again in search of a wand that would fit me.

I always found what Ollivander said to Harry in the books creepy and fascinating, so I prompted him with, "What's curious, sir?"

There were a few bangs from the general vicinity of where Ollivander went and he said a bit louder to make himself heard, "It's curious that the wand that you tried last had a phoenix tail feather whose phoenix had given just one other feather. And that feather resides in the wand I had sold the young You-Know-Who. I had thought that the wand would have chosen you, but I was mistaken."

"No, I don't know who," I said before I could stop myself. I admit, I've always loved fanfictions that played on this.

Ollivander came stomping from wherever he was and looked at me weirdly. He was carrying ten wand boxes and there were ten more floating behind him. Thank Merlin for the Levitation Charm, right?

I could see Snape pursing his lips from the corner of my eye. Was he displeased?

But no, I could see a small glitter of mirth in his black eyes that disproved that theory. I guess he found what I said funny. Good. He needed to smile more. Okay, he wasn't smiling, but I'm going to assume that he was pursing his lips to prevent himself from smiling. Makes me feel better anyway.

I turned my attention back to Ollivander who was murmuring to himself as he tried to decide which wand I should try next.

"How about this one? Beechwood, eleven inches, the core is a phoenix tail feather and the wand itself is quite bendy."

I stared at him in shock and took the wand from his fingers with hope in my heart. It was the wand that selected me on Pottermore. I really liked the hidden meaning behind the wood and its flexibility – meaning I was open minded and adaptable to situations. Or at least that's what I understood from the description written on the Pottermore pages.

I felt a warmth inside myself as I drew the wand up in the air and let it shower me in golden and silver sparks. They reminded me of the small sparklers I sometimes lit on New Year's Eve.

I felt my lips stretch in a big smile as I looked over to Snape, reminding myself of a puppy that wanted to see if his owner was pleased with him. His lips twitched a bit as if he could read my mind and I knew that he could, but hadn't. He just knew how to read me well, I guess. I was happy by that realization since people always said I was hard to read before.

I brought my (my!) wand to my eyes to look at its design. It was a pretty wand in my opinion. It was a light brown with ivy swirls. It was sleek and shiny, but I could still grip it in my fingers with no fear of it clattering to the floor. I loved it.

I must have been glowing with happiness because Ollivander was also smiling at me, happy that we had finally found the right wand for me.

Snape paid for my wand soon after that and we were once again walking down Diagon Alley.


	11. Chapter Eleven - I See The Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or I'm bookish heaven... oh and Hedwig!

**Chapter Eleven – I See the Light**  
**or I'm in bookish heaven... oh and Hedwig!**

We stopped in Amanuensis Quills to buy some nice quills and supplies for them (like keeping them sharp and neat), Scribbulus Writing Instruments where we got some nice ink in different colours and Snape allowed me to get a few colouring pencils and normal pencils for drawing when I told him I liked to draw. I didn't draw well in my opinion and could only draw anime figures, but it's a nice hobby to have, right?

Then we stopped in Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to buy me a nice set of scales, a quality telescope and other knicks and knacks I needed for school.

There was even a small arts and crafts store that I begged Snape to let me browse and we left with a nice crochet set and a whole lot of yarn for it. I loved crocheting in my past life and wanted to crochet some nice, warm, socks for Dumbledore at Christmas and other friends I might get.

We also stopped at a trunk shop, where instead of the usual Hogwarts one compartment trunk that was on sale, Snape got me a nice three compartment one with some neat spells on it, like a shrinking spell, a featherweight charm, and a locking charm so only I could open the trunk. In the first compartment was a nice wardrobe where I could hang my new clothes in, the second compartment was a library one that came with a catalogue spell (whenever you out a book inside it, it got catalogued on a piece of parchment and then you could just summon it out by saying its title) that would come in useful since I intended to buy a lot of books. I'm a bookworm, sue me. The last compartment had a nice spell that made it bigger on the inside (like the TARDIS!) and I could put all my other things inside it.

Our next stop was Flourish and Blotts where Snape gave me free reign after seeing how excited I was about looking at all the different books in the store, while he went to the register and requested the set of books for my first year at Hogwarts. Soon after getting lost among the shelves, I realized that the store didn't use the Dewey Decimal system most libraries in the world used – but I guess I should have expected that since this was the Wizarding World.

Instead, the bookshelves were just sorted by their subject. I decided to start with the book titles I knew and found interesting while reading the Harry Potter books.

In the end, I ended up with this pile of books: _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_ , _An Anthology of Eighteenth_ _Century Charms_ , _Important Modern Magical Discoveries_ , _Notable Magical Names of Our Time, A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry, Jinxes for the Jinxed, Magical_ _Hieroglyphs_ _and Logograms, Chadwick's Charms Vol I-VII, Powers You Never Knew You Had and What To Do With Them Now You've Wised Up, Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland, Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions, Asiatic Anti-venoms, Sites of Historical Sorcery, Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Fundamental Laws of Magic, Rune Dictionary, Self-Defensive_ _Spellwork_ _, A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions, Numerology and_ _Gramatica_ _, The Healer's Helpmate, Where There's a Wand There's a Way,_ _Olde_ _and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Encyclopaedia of Toadstools, Achievements in Charming, Dream Oracle, Modern Magical History, Hairy Snout Human Heart,_ _Quidditch_ _Through the Ages, Spellman's Syllabary, Practical Household Magic,_ _The Tales of_ _Beedle_ _the Bard, Nature's Nobility: a Wizarding_ _Genea_ _logy_ _,_ _Hogwarts: a History_ and _Magical Water Plans of the Mediterranean._

I, of course, avoided anything to do with Gilderoy Lockhart.

Yeah, I know it's a lot of titles. Did I tell you I'm a bookworm and I can read really, really fast? If I tried my best I'm sure I could read those under a month.

Then I went in search of some titles that I haven't heard about. I mostly chose reference books for supplemental reading and some wizarding novels and children's books that I thought would be a good light reading. I made sure to get as many books about the wizarding world as possible. I needed to know about its traditions, laws, and politics. If I wanted to change the Wizarding World for the better, I need to know everything I could get my hands on.

Snape's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into his hair when I came lugging all the books to the register, but he didn't say anything – just read through the titles to see just what I chose. Then, he nodded and the shop clerk happily rang the whole lot up. I think we just made his day with the huge purchase.

Snape went ahead and shrunk the packages and put them in one of his pockets. I would organize everything into my trunk later, he said when I asked him about it.

The last stop before we left Diagon Alley was Eeylops' Owl Emporium where Snape said, "It is your birthday in a few days and students are allowed to bring pets to school. I thought that it would be useful to have an owl so you can communicate with friends you make at school or just have a means to send messages if you ever find yourself stranded somewhere or if there's an emergency." ,

His eyes made sure to let me know that under no circumstances should I ever find myself stranded. Ever.

I was touched by his thoughtfulness once again. I definitively didn't expect that Snape would be the one to buy me my first birthday present.

I just nodded to let him understand that yes, I would do my best not to be left stranded somewhere.

Then we entered the Emporium and I was in owl heaven. So many owls! There were barn owls, screech owls, eagle owls, scops owls, pygmy owls and other species of owls that I didn't recognize. There was only one snowy owl inside the shop and it was already flying in my direction. I raised my arm and she gently landed on it.

It was Hedwig.

"Hedwig," I whispered and the beautiful snowy owl barked gently and snapped her bill as if letting me know she approved.

"Is this normal behaviour for an owl?" I asked Snape as we went to the cash register to buy a cage, a perch and some owl treats for my new owl.

"Wizarding owls are a lot smarter than normal owls and usually, choose their wizards. Not every species of owl, though," the clerk said as he rang us up. "This owl in particular actually flew into our shop a few days ago, almost as if she came here knowing that her new owner would show up soon."

I smiled at that. Hedwig was indeed a very special owl. I brought the arm with Hedwig near to my face and nuzzled her head. Hedwig closed her eyes and let out a small whistle, enjoying the attention.

"Thank you," I said to Snape when we stepped outside the shop. "I love her already."

Snape just nodded but said nothing. I knew though that he was pleased that I liked his gift.

Our last stop for the day was the Leaky Cauldron where Snape quickly and quietly talked to Tom, the innkeeper into getting us a private room so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed and got us some rooms for the night. He had told me that we would be going to the muggle world tomorrow in search of some nice and new muggle clothes and then we had our appointment at Gringotts.

The dinner was nice and quiet and delicious. We both went for a simple serving of lasagne. Snape went for a nice cup of chamomile tea and I chose some lemonade to go with it. For desert, Snape got a small piece of rhubarb pie and I treated myself to some cookies with milk.

After dinner, we sat in front of the fireplace with Snape answering some of my other questions and just spending some time relaxing after a long and tiring day.

At nine Snape escorted me to my room and bid me good night. Before he could turn and go towards his own room, I gathered my courage, reached out to him, and brought my hands around his waist in a small hug.

"Thank you," I mumbled into his stomach. I could tell he was uncomfortable by the stiffness with which he carried himself. However, he still put his hand gently on my head and tousled my hair a bit. I think he knew what I was thinking him for. For saving me. Being nice to me. Understanding me. For everything.

I slept like a baby that night.


	12. Chapter Twelve - If You Want Blood (You've Got It)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or Gringotts revisited

**Chapter Twelve – If You Want Blood (You've Got It)**   
**or Gringotts revisited**

I was woken up by someone petting my hair next morning. When I opened my eyes, I saw it was Hedwig who was preening me lovingly. I smiled at her happily and petted her head in return. We spent a few minutes just enjoying getting to know each other and cuddling. There was a quiet knock on the door and Snape silently entered the room. Seeing Hedwig and I still in bed cuddling, he sighed in that long-suffering way that most parents sigh in sometimes and gave us both a minuscule smile.

"Good morning, professor!" I said happily as I sat up in bed, trying to detangle myself from the covers. Hedwig whistled and hopped up to the perch that was included with the room.

"Good morning, miss Potter," he replied and crossed his arms as he watched me flail around the bed for a minute or so until I fell out and onto the floor. Yeah, coordination and I aren't exactly friends. I can walk without tripping most of the time, but the little things like bumping elbows into doorknobs and chairs, or stubbing my toes on carpets or other things that are strewn on the floors, or as I described previously disentangling things, often give me problems. There was one time I stubbed my toe that it kept hurting for half a year straight!

"I'm okay," I chirped at Snape as I poked my head up from behind the bed where I had fallen.

"I can see that," Snape drawled with a small smirk on his face. I'm sure I was amusing him a lot right now. I pouted at him childishly and the smirk grew.

Yes, definitively amusing him.

"I'll leave you to change and order some breakfast. Do you have anything specific in mind to break your fast with?"

For some reason, I found this funny and grinned while I scrambled up into a standing position and went over to my trunk where we had put the clothes that had been delivered yesterday evening from Madam Malkin's. While deciding what I wanted to wear, I thought for a moment and then said, "Can I have some bircher muesli, please? I've never had it before and I love muesli!"

Snape didn't say anything before leaving the room to let me get dressed, but I had a feeling he wasn't going to deny me the muesli.

There wasn't much choice for my clothes yet, so I decided to wear a day dress, much like the dress I had on yesterday, only this time I chose a dark blue colour. I loved the feeling of the georgette fabric. It was perfect for summer and I had never worn it before, not even in my previous life.

I skipped down the stairs and into the private dining room from yesterday, skilfully avoiding the morning guests (which there weren't that many of) and greeting Tom just as he was exiting the room. He cheerfully greeted me back.

Snape was already sitting at the table, nursing a huge cup of coffee, a newspaper to the side of his full English breakfast. My breakfast was waiting for me next to him and I sat down at the indicated place. Without further ado, I gleefully attacked the muesli and drank the milk Snape had gotten me. Luckily I wasn't lactose intolerant.

During the time I had taken to eat, Snape had drunk the mug of coffee and read the Daily Prophet. I wondered if I should take a subscription to it, but decided to think about it at a later time since Snape looked like he wanted to discuss something with me. Wiping my mouth with a napkin, I straightened up to listen to what he had to say.

"We'll be going to Gringotts and requesting to talk to your account manager. Have you thought about any questions you have for them?"

I pursed my lips in thought. I had been thinking about it indeed.

"Am I going to have to have proof that I belong to the Potter family or are they going to take me at my word?"

"The goblins can do a small blood test to see what families you are either Heir or Head to, yes," Snape agreed while watching me. "You are automatically Head to the House of Potter, but can't actually do anything about it until you turn of age, which is seventeen. Until then you can have a proxy assigned to vote in the Wizengamot and a Steward to run your House until you reach your majority and that can teach you what is expected of you after you turn seventeen. The blood tests can show if you have blood rights to any other families."

This sounded really neat since I wanted to learn about pure-blood manners and etiquette and having a Steward that could teach me it would be wonderful. I wondered who I could appoint as Steward, but decided not to think about it further until we actually got to Gringotts.

"Do you think my parents left a will?" I asked him cautiously. I did not want to sound heartless talking about all of this, but I needed to know. I had no idea what reading a will entailed, but after reading quite a few fanfictions on this theme I thought I had a good idea.

"Yes, they probably did. A lot of the wizarding families in the last war filed their wills with Gringotts Bank just in case," Snape answered as she stood up, waiting for me to do the same as we exited the private dining room and made our way to the back of the Leaky Cauldron to once again enter Diagon Alley.

"So, my House is like the muggle nobility then? With Stewards and voting?" I asked as we walked down the street. I thought of the House of Lords as I asked him that.

"Yes, insofar as we can only hold the title of Lord or Lady," Snape replied.

The mention of the blood test made me think. Harry Potter was definitively related to the Peverells. I wondered what reaction the goblins and professor Snape would have at learning that I was descended from one of the ancient famous wizarding families that went extinct. Slytherin was also a possibility as was Gaunt, but I doubted that it would show anything else than me being related to them. Lord Voldemort was, after all, the Heir of Slytherin... or was he the Head of it, since he was apparently the only living being (I'm not going to call him a human or a person) with Slytherin blood. If the blood test showed I was related to Slytherin, I think that could make me the Heir. I had to cackle mentally at that, since if I let the second year at Hogwarts happen in the same way as it did in canon, I would indeed be the Heir of Slytherin. That made me think of the Horcrux in my scar and of me being a parselmouth. Was being a parselmouth linked to the Horcrux or was it actually a family inheritance?

I guess I would learn about it soon since Snape and I just entered Gringotts while I was mulling over things.

We once again went to the first goblin we saw that had no people in front of him and asked him if we could talk to my account manager. The goblin looked down at me from where he was sitting and said,

"I will need a small drop of your blood to ensure that you are who you claim to be. It is standard procedure for first-time claimants to ensure that there are no fraudulent claims."

I nodded, expecting this and gave him my finger where he made a small cut with his dagger and let a drop of my blood sprinkle a piece of parchment which flashed a green colour.

"You are indeed Adaline Lily Potter, daughter of James Potter and Lily née Evans Potter. I shall announce you to your account manager Rognod, son of Bogrod shortly. Please wait over there."

I had to wonder if Bogrod was the same Bogrod that led the polyjuiced Hermione to the Lestrange vault in the Deathly Hallows but didn't think about it further as Snape and I were led to a small waiting area off to the side of the main bank area. There were a lot of long and narrow passages with lots and lots of doors. On each door there was a goblin name and what family they were the account manager to. There was the Malfoys, Notts, Abbotts, and I even caught a door that I wasn't sure if it said, Potter or Porter.

It turned out that it was Potter as the bank teller goblin that we talked to before went straight to that door and knocked on it, before entering it. Shortly after that, he exited it again and motioned for us to enter it.

Snape put a hand on my shoulder as he led me inside a small, but artfully decorated office. There were goblin-themed paintings hanging from the grey walls and goblin sculptures streaked around the marble floor here and there. A giant, black desk was sat in the centre of it and a middle-aged goblin was sitting behind it in a carved wooden chair. There were a couple of empty seats in front of him.

"Welcome Lady Potter, Potions Master Snape," the goblin who could only be Rognod said, while standing up from behind the desk and coming around it to shake hands with us. "I had hoped you would have shown up soon," he said to me as he let go of my hand and motioned for us to take a seat.

I smiled at him politely and sat myself down as neatly and lady-like as I could. I could almost imagine my previous parents snorting at that since I usually couldn't sit like that due to me being so overweight, though that fat disappeared during the last years of my life.

"Thank you, Mr. Rognod," I said as Snape also sat himself down on the chair next to me.

"Just Rognod is fine, Lady Potter," Rognod replied and gave me a toothy smile. Then he turned to Snape and said, "Thank you for bringing her, we have much to discuss."

Snape nodded and then said, "We had wondered if there was a will that James and Lily Potter had left and if you could tell us about Lady Potter's assets and investments if there are any."

Rognod nodded to both inquiries and opened a drawer on his desk. "I had prepared for both of those inquiries in case Lady Potter turned up and asked to talk to me."

He pulled out two files. One of them was pretty thin, and the other was pretty thick. Then he opened another drawer and pulled out a similar dagger that the bank teller used on me before and a blank piece of parchment. He looked at us calculatingly, then added, "I had also wondered if you might want to take a more advanced blood test to see if there are any other vaults lying in Gringotts that you can lay a claim to. It is not exactly standard procedure, but by you being the last of the Potters and the rest of the Potters being somewhat secretive about it, I have to admit I wonder."

I looked at Snape to see what he thought about it. I imagined that the connection to the Slytherin and Peverell family was the reason they were so secretive unless that knowledge went forgotten due to the Potter family being so old. I wondered if James knew about being related to Slytherin.

"It is your decision," was all he said as he saw me looking at him.

I did indeed want to know about my ancestors, so I nodded my assent to Rognod.

I received another toothy smile as he leaned down on his seat.

"Good, good," was all he had to say on the matter.

"Now, let us start with the Will of James Potter, shall we? There are quite a few beneficiaries written in it and it shall take us a few days to notify all of them. Unfortunately, the will had been sealed until the last Potter could come and ask for it to be read, so we don't know what the will itself contains. If you could wait a few days for the beneficiaries to appear, we can get to reading it then."

I nodded, not really enthusiastic about reading the Will of my dad, but knowing that it had to happen. I hoped one of the beneficiaries was Remus Lupin so I could get to know him sooner than in my third year if I hadn't managed to free Sirius by then. I also hoped that my parents were smart enough to mention about the Secret Keeper switch in the will. It would help free Sirius that much faster unless the Ministry tried to brush it all under a rug.

"Then I would suggest we start on the blood test so that we can get a head start on calculating all of your assets," Rognod said. I nodded again and put my right hand over the parchment, watching as Rognod made a small incision and let a few drops of my blood trickle onto the parchment. Snape then took my hand and waved his wand over it, healing the small cut immediately.

The parchment flashed green again, and then like a spider web, names started appearing on it, starting with my name at the bottom of the parchment with the date of my birth written underneath it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I willingly admit that this took me a while because I'm not too familiar with financial or law terms. Also, I might not be able to update this story for a few days. We're probably returning home tomorrow or the day after and we'll be busy with packing. Also, I think I'm in need of a Beta - I'm not too sure if my writing makes any sense. Well, it makes sense to me, but barely. I have a feeling I'm jumping around too much. And mixing quite a few phrases. If anyone wants to help, please send me a PM! I'll try to update as soon as I get home and situated again. Also, I haven't been able to sleep these past fourteen days, so I'm kinda hoping I'll crash and burn when we get home and I get to go to MY bed. I'm thinking I might sleep for three days straight. Have a nice day and thank you so much for your support! It makes my days. :)


	13. Chapter Thirteen - The House that Built Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or I get to know who my family is

**Chapter Thirteen – The House that Built Me**  
**or I get to know who my family is**

The first few names weren't that surprising, since they were my parents and grandparents, though Snape did let out a small sound when we came to Fleamont Potter, the father of James Potter, my grandfather. I looked at him and he explained quietly, "Fleamont Potter was the creator of the Sleakeazy Hair Potion. It is a very popular potion today."

I nodded to let him know I understood. Then came the surprise surname for both Rognod and Snape as the Potter family went further back and mixed with the Peverell line. It wasn't such a surprise to me, because I actually expected that. What did surprise me was that even though a Slytherin woman married one of the Peverell brothers, the Peverell line did go up and mixed with Slytherin anyway. This meant that I was actually related to Salazar Slytherin. I was uncertain about being related to Slytherin if there was actually no blood relation, since Slytherin married the Peverell brother and then went on to become the Gaunt family. Wouldn't that mean that I wasn't actually related to Slytherin? But no, Slytherin was also on my family tree marrying into the Peverell family before the three famous brothers. That family line began with the name of Solas Slytherin, since he was apparently the first to be named Slytherin. There were enough generations between Solas and Salazar that Salazar was considered a pure-blood. Go figure.

The Potter line slowed down considerably after mixing with the Peverells and ended up with the single name of Linfred "Potter" of Stinchcombe. I remembered reading about him shortly before I died. From what I've read about him, he was a Herbalist, Potioneer and a Healer. It was surprising that so many of my family members were into Potions and Healing. I was expecting more Aurors, but there were only a few here and there. There were a few Potters that were working for the Ministry or were in the Wizengamot, but most of them were Healers, Herbalists or Potioneers. There were even a few Curse Breakers.

If you're wondering how I know that, there were some notes besides their birth and death dates, like their maiden names for women or their careers and some accomplishments. It was a pretty detailed family tree and I liked it. I wondered if I might get a copy of it and make it into a tapestry.

The parchment finished writing the names and the room was left in a stupefied silence. Well, I wasn't the one stupefied, but the other two were. Rognod probably because he wasn't expecting that my family tree would reveal so many extinct names. There were a few other wizarding families that went extinct that married into the Potter family, but they weren't important enough to mention. Well, except for Blishwick I guess. That got Rognod's attention. Probably because the family was one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. There were also some familiar surnames that married into the Potter family or the opposite, like Black, Malfoy, Prewett, Weasley and even a Prince! That surname made me look at professor Snape to see his reaction. He didn't know that I knew that surname. It was, after all, the surname of his mother before she married his father. I was happy to know that we were actually related through marriage, even if not in blood. I was also happy to have it confirmed that I was blood-related to Sirius and the Weasleys. I could ignore the Malfoys. I'm not even sure if they would deign themselves to admit they were related to me.

Snape looked gobsmacked at the revelations on my family tree. It was the first time I saw him express so much emotion since I've met him. He raised a shaky hand and traced the name of his ancestor before turning his eyes on me again.

"Imeldra Prince was the great-great-grandmother of my mother, miss Potter. It seems that we are related," was all he said.

I couldn't help it and it slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Does that mean I get to call you Uncle Sev?"

I immediately closed my eyes in mortification and hid my face in my hands wishing to all the deities that I could remember names of to come and quickly dig my grave for me.

There was a significantly long pause between that question and Snape's answer.

When it came, it surprised me.

"I would prefer Uncle Severus," he said and, shocked, I raised my head and stared at him with a gaping mouth. I even went to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming when I saw a twinkle in his black eyes. Then his hand descended to my head and he said gently,

"This is a surprise, however it is not an unwelcome one."

I smiled at him, gratefully. I was happy to know that I had some living relatives that were actually happy to be related to me, unlike the Dursleys.

When Snape was sure I had calmed down enough from my embarrassment, he turned back to Rognod who was watching us in silence. He put his clawed hands on the thick folder and looked at it for a moment.

"I would ask that you give me until after the Potter's will is read to compile the new financial information we have just received," he said politely. Snape and I looked at each other and then I turned back to Rognod and nodded.

"Then that leaves us with the bequeaths that people have left you with after the thirty-first of October of 1981."

I frowned at that. "Bequeaths?"

"They either had no heirs and didn't want their estates seized by the Ministry, or they were just thankful that you saved them, I would assume," Rognod said, taking another folder out of the Potter folder. It wasn't as thin as the folder for the will.

"Oh," was the only thing I said.

He opened the folder and proceeded to list the people that decided to leave me with either money, books, artefacts, their shares of the companies they invested in or even their homes. Most of the surnames I didn't recognize, but there were some I did.

When Rognod was done, he closed the folder and told me, "I shall transfer the bequeaths to your trust vault so you can decide which ones you want to keep and which ones you want transferred to your family vault."

"Thank you, Rognod," I said, giving him a grateful smile.

I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't hear about the companies the Potters had invested in over the years, but I would hear about those in a few days, so I wasn't that disappointed. I really hoped I would have shares in the Daily Prophet, that was I could control what they wrote about me and perhaps, anonymously, write some articles that would make the people reading it think, before I begin my political career.

And there would be no doubt about it. If I was reborn into the Harry Potter universe, there had to be a reason for it. I might have Asperger's Syndrome and I might have social phobia, but that wouldn't stop me from changing this world for the better. Like making sure muggle-born or –raised children were not abused because of their powers. I hoped I could establish either magical orphanages or a foster care that would take them under their wings and teach them our ways. And elementary schools as well. I'm not sure if there are wizarding elementary schools at all.

Of course, I still needed to learn about our ways myself. That's why I got all those books. And I'm sure there would be more books on the theme in the school library. I'm also sure I could ask Snap- Uncle Severus to teach me or one of the other professors at Hogwarts. Perhaps even the Steward could help me. I hoped it would be a good person.

"You shall receive a notification from Gringotts when the will shall be read in a few days," Rognod finished and escorted us out of his office.


	14. Chapter Fourteen - You Are Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or Snape and I get a bit closer

**Chapter Fourteen – You Are Not Alone**  
**or Snape and I get a bit closer**

I shan't go into the details of what we did the rest of the day because it would probably be torturous to you. In short, we went into the muggle world and bought me a full muggle wardrobe as well. I made sure to buy a lot of leggings and dresses since I loved those the most. I also got some really nice shoes and boots.

We returned to the Leaky Cauldron that evening tired and sore from all the walking and Snape bid me go and pack my new clothes into my trunk before we went and sat down for dinner.

Snape was quiet during the rest of the day, probably mulling over the fact that we were related. It was clear that he hadn't known about the fact.

I, on the other hand, was pretty much happy all day. I even skipped a few times to Uncle Severus's amusement.

I was also curious about my parents' Will. I had never seen a Will in person before, nor have any of my relatives written one, so I had no idea what would happen. I had read a few Wills in fanfictions, but I wasn't sure if those were correctly written.

I was also trying to remember any muggle companies that were good investments in the early 1990s. I would definitely invest some into Microsoft and Apple. Also, Google, when it was created. But that wouldn't be until the 2000s I think. I can't remember the exact date that Google came to be.

But, shaking my head, I decided to let thoughts of politics and investments go for now and quickly packed my new clothes and went into the private dining room to meet with Uncle Severus.

He was, once again, already sitting at the table and drinking tea. He looked up when I entered and gave me a minuscule smile in welcome. I grinned back at him and sat next to him.

"I forgot to ask you about something," I said in lieu of greeting him.

"What about?"

"When we talked about the night my parents died, you said that Papa Padfoot was arrested for betraying my parents and I told you that he didn't. Can we get him out of prison?"

Snape looked at me thoughtfully.

"We would need to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore first. He is, after all, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and is the person that can open this topic at the Wizengamot meeting. When we tell him, he will probably call for an emergency meeting and you will be required to retell what you remember of that night and why you think that Sirius Black did not betray your parents."

"I can do that," I nodded, even though I knew that it would be very, very difficult to speak in front of an entire chamber of adult witches and wizards with my phobia.

"You shall, of course, not be alone," Uncle Severus told me with a pointed look. He knew that I needed an assistant for these kinds of things and had apparently volunteered to go with me. I smiled at him gratefully.

"Thank you, Uncle Severus," I said and put my small hand over his large one for a few moments before retreating it with a blush on my face, feeling shy.

"Yes, well," Uncle Severus blustered unexpectedly.

I decided to change the subject for now.

"Can you tell me more about Hogwarts? What are the other subjects besides Potions that I'm going to learn about?"

"There are seven core subjects that you will learn in your first two years at Hogwarts," Uncle Severus replied, turning into Professor Snape. "They are Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Herbology, History of Magic and Flying. You are only required to take one year of Flying, though. In your third year, you will be able to choose between several elective subjects, such as Study of Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Divination, Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures."

"Astronomy?" I asked excitedly. I loved Astronomy in my previous life. Or let me simplify this by telling you that I loved to watch high-resolution pictures of planets and their moons. I loved to read about new discoveries, such as the Earth's second moon that was found in April 2016. Well, it wasn't proven that it was a moon, they called it a "quasi-asteroid" but I decided to call it mini-moon or chibimoon if I was trying to joke about my favourite anime of all time, Sailor Moon.

"It is why we bought you a telescope, you know," Snape said dryly.

"Oh, I forgot about that already," I dismissed him with a grin and a wink. True. I already forgot we bought a telescope yesterday.

"Obviously," Uncle Snape retorted.

That man. He was teasing me! I dared and poked my tongue out at him cheekily and then became all shy again and looked down at my hands which were settled in my lap.

"I should also probably inform you of the four Hogwarts Houses, other than what colours they represent," he said after a moment. I looked up at him curiously and watched as he took a sip of his tea.

"There's Gryffindor, the house of daring, nerve, bravery and chivalry; Ravenclaw values wit, creativity and wisdom; Hufflepuff is well known for their loyalty, hard work, dedication, honesty and tolerance, while Slytherin is home to the ambitious, clever, cunning, and resourceful people."

"So, in other words, Gryffindors are reckless fools that never think before doing something, Ravenclaws are giant nerds, Hufflepuffs are probably all cinnamon rolls and Slytherins are as sneaky as they come," I declared with a mischievous smirk.

Professor Snape, who was just in the middle of taking a sip of his tea, choked on it and spent a few minutes coughing the tea back out of his lungs. I, being the polite little witch that I am, patted him on his back, trying to help him.

"Where do you get all of this?" He asked me incredulously when his oesophagus was clear again.

"I was born awesome like that," I said with a smirk. I was rewarded with a snort.

I fell asleep to Hedwig's whistles and hoots that night. It's almost as if she tried to sing me a lullaby. I love that owl.

The next few days were spent just milling around Diagon Alley and spending my money getting some other trinkets for myself that Uncle Severus grudgingly allowed. I had bought a few Wizarding games and plush toys (I liked to cuddle with them at night, even when I was an adult, so sue me!), snacked on the Wizarding sweets I got from the stands, subscribed to a few magazines like Witch Weekly, The Daily Prophet, The Quibbler and a few other muggle magazines like National Geographic and even went so far as to go to several bookstores to get their catalogues if I wanted to buy a muggle book later on.

I loved these outings.

Uncle Severus took me on a tour of London and we went to see the Tower, the Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, and many other famous tourist locations. He also took me to the Tate Gallery, National Gallery, and into Madame Tussauds and we spent a whole day exploring the Natural History Museum. He was a veritable fount of knowledge about the dinosaurs and after needling him about it for a bit, Snape admitted that he was a bit obsessed with them in his childhood. When I told him that I was too, he smiled a bit and relaxed.

He was all stiff and embarrassed about admitting this before.

Silly Potions Master.

But I didn't love just walking around London and getting to see it again, I loved just spending time with my newfound Uncle and getting to know him outside from what I knew of him from the books. He had a fantastic sense of dry wit and I loved listening to him commenting on things sarcastically.

I must have choked on my water quite a few times and I think he was trying to get me back for making him choke that evening in the Leaky Cauldron if I understood his smirks correctly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got myself a Beta! So all hail to Child of Music and Dreams (from FanFiction.Net) for going through this story and correcting it! Also, this is the last finished chapter I have - I am in the middle of writing the next one and it's a bit tricky since it's all about the Will reading. So many new people! Okay, not so many, but MOONY! I might even cut the chapter into two, one chapter solely about Moony and the other being the actual Will reading to be able to publish it faster. Yay! Do you have any ideas about what they could do before Hogwarts starts? I was thinking of Snape just taking here there, but students aren't allowed there during the summer.


	15. Chapter Fifteen - Just Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or what happens before the Will is read

**Chapter Fifteen – Just Wait**  
**or what happens before the Will is read**

Two days after our visit to Gringotts, we got a letter informing us that Rognod had notified all the beneficiaries that he could and that the Will was to be read the following day at eleven o'clock in the morning.  I got nervous at that, because I was almost sure that Remus Lupin would be making an appearance. 

Uncle Severus got _his_ notification the evening we left Gringotts as well. I was surprised to learn that he was also a beneficiary and was curious as to why. Once again, the question of whether the Marauders were his friends was making itself known in my brain. 

Hedwig, who had taken to hooting and whistling me to sleep every night and insisted to be in my presence during dinner, barked softly as I chewed on my lips during dinner and playing with my food. I looked up at her as she flew over to sit on my shoulder. 

Then she proceeded to whack me over the head with her giant wing as if saying, “ _why are you so nervous, fledgling, when you have no reason to be so”._  

"I know, Hedwig," I said, giving her a mock glare, while Uncle Severus watched us interact in silence. By now he had gotten used to the odd mannerisms of my owl. She also liked to preen  _his_ hair sometimes, but I think she mainly did that to annoy him. 

***

The next morning, I awoke early since I slept pretty awfully. Usually the day before something important happened I sleep really badly. I had hoped that this bad habit wouldn’t have followed me here, but unfortunately it seemed that it did. I hoped that there was a potion here that could allow me to sleep without getting addicted to it. Dreamless Sleep Potion unfortunately was addictive. But, seeing as I wouldn’t be using it every day, but only on days that preceded something important happening, I think I could get away with it. I made a mental note to ask Uncle Severus about it during breakfast.

Hedwig was still asleep with her head under her wings. There were soft whistling noises coming out of her every now and then and I grinned at that. She snored! I probably shouldn’t tell her that, unless I wanted her to peck my eyes out in revenge for slighting her so.

Did I mention how much I loved Hedwig?

I smiled at her sleeping form one more time before I went to my trunk and pulled out a silver dress with white stockings. I loved stockings, mainly because they hid my knobbly knees somewhat. I was the unfortunate receiver of that genetic misfortune, like Harry. Stockings helped hide my knees and made my legs look infinitely better. I had already decided to use them for my whole life here.

Black Mary Jane shoes went on my feet after the stockings.

I looked at myself in the mirror then. I hadn’t had the chance to do so in a while. I blinked at my emerald green eyes that I got from Lily. I was lucky enough to also get her good eyesight since I had never needed glasses.

I was once more in love with my hair. It was the same colour as my mom’s – red! Think Karen Gillan from Doctor Who and you’ll know it. It was curly and reached to the small of my back. With the Dursleys, I usually kept it in a bun so that Dudley couldn’t pull it and my aunt and uncle couldn’t threaten to cut it all away if it got in the way. Here, I let it free for the first time in years.

After retrieving a hair brush from the trunk, I sat down on the bed and started brushing it gently. This always relaxed me and I needed the relaxation since today would be the Will reading.

Once my hair was brushed I gently braided it to the side and finished it with a silver bow hair tie.

All in all, I looked like a nice young lady after I was done and I went downstairs happy with how I looked.

Uncle Severus looked up from his newspaper and coffee mug when I entered the dining room and gave me a once-over. He nodded at me and returned to what he was doing before I came in.

I took that as an approval and happily dug into my breakfast.

***

After a quiet breakfast, we left the Leaky Cauldron and went down the street towards Gringotts. I could feel my hands start to sweat and Uncle Severus definitively had to notice, since he was once again holding my hand. Today was my birthday, the thirty-first of July and there was a lot of people here.

Isn’t it ironic that the Will is going to be read on my birthday?

“Nervous?” Uncle Severus asked me as he looked down at me.

“A bit,” I answered him while chewing on my lip.

“Stop that,” he said sternly as he gave me a small glare. I took my teeth back inside my mouth and gave him a sheepish look.

“Sorry.”

He sighed and I took that as the end of the conversation for now. I looked around me a bit, trying to see if I could recognize anyone in the street. Like Hagrid for example. He should be at Gringotts today, getting the Philosopher’s Stone, if I was correct. Of course, since I had already changed the canon by replying to the letter and Uncle Severus coming to get me, I couldn’t be sure if Hagrid would still be coming to the bank.

I sighed in relief when we entered the bank. It was fairly empty from people and the goblins didn’t bother looking up from their work to see who entered. We made our way to Rognod’s office, this time without announcing ourselves to the bank tellers as by now we already knew where his office was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got myself a Beta! So all hail to Child of Music and Dreams (from FanFiction.Net) for going through this story and correcting it! Also, I opened a poll over on FanFiction.Net for who Adaline's love interest should be in a few years. You're welcome to go visit [this link](https://www.fanfiction.net/~bakaprincess85) and let me know by voting.


	16. Chapter Sixteen - We Are Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... or Uncle Moo'y returns

**Chapter Sixteen - We Are Family**   
**or Uncle** **Moo'y returns**

When Snape knocked on the door and we entered the office, I saw that we were the first to arrive. It was twenty minutes to eleven after all and Uncle Severus liked to be early or extremely punctual. I was the same, I guess. I had only been late to a meeting twice in my past life, and I had felt so guilty about being late (even if it wasn't exactly my fault), that I always came early. Better early than late, right?

Rognod greeted us cheerfully (for a goblin) and I spent the next ten minutes asking him all sorts of questions about him and his culture. Then I remembered the question I wanted to ask of Uncle Severus about Dreamless Sleep Potion and was just opening my mouth while looking at him when there was a knock on the doors of the office and Rognod called for them to enter.

I was out of the seat before you could say Quidditch and tackled into the newcomer so hard that we both hit the floor from the collision. I hadn't expected this burst of emotion from myself. I'm usually a pretty calm person. I haven't thought that I would miss my Uncle Moo'y as much as I realized I did just now.

I found myself sobbing into his robes. I'm sure there were a few "Uncle Moo'ys" and "I missed you so much" in-between the crying I was doing. The body underneath me went stiff for some long moments before I could feel his hands curling around me as well into a bear hug. I heard him mutter his endearment for me which made me cry even harder (he used to call me cub all the time because that's what I was to him – and before you go all: it's not a cub, it's a pup. The terms are interchangeable, as in the USA they call them pups while in the UK they're cubs, so they have the same meaning, just different uses in different countries).

Remus shuffled us for a bit, until he was sitting on the floor, which I'm sure was a lot more comfortable than lying on it, with me in his lap. He was cooing into my ears softly as he petted my hair, trying to calm me down.

"Shhh, cub, it's alright. I'm here now. I missed you too," were some of the words I heard as I started to calm down and instead of crying started to hiccup.

"You're still doing that," I heard Remus chuckle at my hiccups. I giggled through my tears and finally, finally, raised my head to look at him. He looked older than when last I saw him. More grey in his hair and a few more lines and small scars on his face. But his eyes hadn't changed – they still held their love for me, which shone as bright as ever, if not more so than before.

I pulled my hands from behind his back and around his neck as I hugged him again.

"Yep, still doing that," I mumbled into his neck. I tried to be angry at him for not contacting me before, but I knew that he either didn't know where I lived or Dumbledore told him not to, so I couldn't really hold a grudge against him. I would hold a grudge against him if he decided to disappear from my life again, though, and I told him so in no uncertain terms when I finally calmed down and just sat there in his lap.

"I promise not to disappear on you again," he said solemnly while helping me up. I nodded while trying to clean my face of the tears and probably some snot as well. In my opinion, I wasn't one of those girls that could cry prettily. My face went all blotchy and my eyes swelled up and I got snot all over my face as well. James used to joke about it when I was a baby, saying that if I grew up and still cried that ugly like, he wouldn't have to be so afraid of a boy taking his baby away since they would be turned off of me when seeing me crying. Yeah. Lily got pretty angry at him after he said it and he slept on the couch for a week.

I felt something cottony on my face and realized that Remus was helping me clean up.

"You haven't changed a bit," he teased me.

"If mum was alive right now, she'd hex you for saying this, you know," I said in reply and gave him a shaky smirk. Remus threw his head back and laughed at that. "I remember how angry she was when James went on about how happy he was about your crying face."

"He had to sleep on the couch for a week," I nodded with a happy smirk. I was finally calm enough that my hiccups stopped.

"Yes, he did come whining to me about it," Remus agreed as he led me towards my chair and sat down as close to me as possible, still holding my hand.

"But how can you remember this? It was so long ago and you were still a baby!" He asked me, looking slightly in awe.

"I have a good memory," I said with a smirk. "I also still remember about that time Uncle Pafoo turned your hair bub-" His hand went quickly over my lips, stopping me mid-word.

"Not. A. Word. More," he threatened me with a lazy grin. "I have much more blackmail material over you than you do of me after all."

I grimaced at that reminder and nodded.

It was only than that I became aware of Rognod and Uncle Severus again. They were watching us in silence; Rognod with a smirk on his face that told me that he was deeply amused by it all, and Severus with a scowl on his face. Yeah, he didn't like Remus that much. Or at least I thought so until he looked up at Remus and nodded at him calmly.

"Nice to see you again, Remus," he went and said, not realizing just what a blow that was to my mind. I knew that this world was different from the books, but this just cemented that fact. There was no trace of hatred in Uncle Severus' eyes when he looked at Uncle Moo'y. Which made me confused. What was he scowling about before for then?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I am so sorry for the long wait. Like I said in a previous chapter when I'm home my motivation is almost non-existent. I couldn't believe myself when we went on holiday and all the 20,000 words just exploded out of me! Really, I was non-stop writing! And when I returned home, I couldn't even look at the story for a while. I've decided to try something new, so let's hope it works in bringing my motivation back.
> 
> I've created a poll for who Adaline should end up with. You're welcome to vote and PM me with anyone else you might think of (I'll add their names to the poll!) - the poll is on my FF.Net page under the name bakaprincess85. 
> 
> I got myself a Beta! So all hail to Child of Music and Dreams for going through this story and correcting it!


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